The History of Yeldersley Hall
Originally built in around 1800, Yeldersley Hall is a magnificent Georgian Country House that stands in 12 acres of gardens and paddocks. The Hall itself is steeped in history and has been sympathetically maintained and restored with many original features preserved throughout the property.
Yeldersley Hall has an impressive past and was formerly a grand country estate with 736 acres including several farms and its own lake.
The Hall was built on its present site in about 1800 for Edmund Evans, whose family made their money from a mill at Darley Abbey, Derby.
There have been many other owners since Edmund Evans and the property had a long spell within the ownership of Francis Wright and his descendants. Francis Wright was a director of the Butterley Ironworks Company whose notable projects included St. Pancras Railway Station. Wright also owned Osmaston Manor, a nearby estate, and he has a memorial in his honour in the market place, Ashbourne.
A Right Royal Connection
Yeldersley Hall can also claim a royal connection, albeit fairly remote! The Duchess of York’s great grandfather, FitzHerbert Wright, owned Yeldersley Hall and her grandfather, Henry FitzHerbert Wright, was born here. Her mother, Susan Barrantes, was also born a FitzHerbert Wright.
A James Bond Inspiration?
Ian Fleming created James Bond in 1953 as part of the novel Casino Royale. Fleming visited Yeldersley Hall on several occasions, primarily to see Muriel Wright with whom he had a passionate, but doomed wartime affair.
Muriel Wright was the daughter of Henry FitzHerbert Wright. Apparently a woman of great beauty, and a skier and polo player of some repute, it has been suggested that she could have stepped straight into the pages of a James Bond novel.
Did Yeldersley Hall play a part in inspiring the James Bond tales we all know and love today?
